


Robot Ninja's Are Scary

by Light7



Series: Robot Ninja's are... [2]
Category: Metalocalypse (Cartoon)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-17 12:02:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29225154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Light7/pseuds/Light7
Summary: The Robot Ninja is badass in all the ways.
Series: Robot Ninja's are... [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2145789
Comments: 6
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Warning, there is so much swearing in this first chapter. It’s Nathan’s pov and in this chapter, he's angry and freaked out, and apparently, my version of angry freaked out Nathan curses all the time.

Chapter One

Everything was on fire again and Nathan was looking at Charles.

This was the third time on this tour that a concert had ended in everything going on fire. While that, in and of itself, wasn’t unusual it was annoying. It was also concerning as it wasn’t the band's fault. Normally, everything going up in smoke, or exploding or collapsing was due, at least in part, to the band. But not this tour, on this tour, something was up. Something deliberate and planned was going down.

Charles nodded at Nathan and turned walking backstage into the flames. Nathan snarled and went to follow only to have a ‘fan’ stumble across the stage in front of him.

“Hey, asshole,” he growled, the guy was in grey army fatigues, his face covered by a balaclava. The man turned and Nathan punched him out. “No one ruins my concerts but me and maybe Toki.”

“What about me?” Murderface slurred.

“What are you doing?” Pickles snapped. “We gotta go.” Klokateers were swarming around them, trying to usher the band to safety.

“You guys go,” Nathan snarled and pushed his way through the klokateers to reach backstage.

“Where’s Nathan going?” he heard Toki wail as he turned into the space behind the stage.

“Going to get Charles,” he yelled back, unsure if the band could hear him over the roar of the flames but not caring. “Fucking asshole, you’re not leaving again.”

The fire was worse behind the stage, had it started back here? Fires never started backstage; it was always the band’s fault. This felt wrong, this felt deliberate. Nathan’s suspicion was confirmed when he punched out another guy in army fatigues. This was organised.

“Fuck,” he said. The last time someone organised had hit them Charles had died, well kind of died. Nathan felt his stomach roll, the beer and burritos he’d had before going on stage threatened to make an unplanned curtain call. He swallowed hard; his mouth dry. The air was burning hot, the inside of his nose burned with it, his throat too. This place was fucked. What was Charles doing coming back here?

Another guy in the same getup was ahead, Nathan grabbed him and lifted him by his shitty coat.

“What the hell is going on?” he yelled. The guy said nothing. Nathan shook him, still nothing. So, Nathan threw him. Fuck it, he could figure it out later, Charles probably already knew what was going on. “Offdensen?” he yelled. Nothing but the roar of flames and the snaps and clatters of backstage junk breaking under the heat.  
Nathan kept going.

“Offdensen?” he yelled again, coughing hard this time. The air burned like bleach, something Nathan was uncomfortably familiar with. His eyes burned and streamed tears. He kicked in the door to a room. Nothing but fire and burning gear. Another door. More fire, more junk. Another door, more fire and computers. No Ofdensen.

The sudden sound of a body hitting the floor and a cut off grunt had Nathan looking up. There were guys up there, Nathan charged forward. Scrambling over debris and burning the crap out of his hands, Nathan got closer. His boots were sticking to the floor. There were three guys ahead of him, all in that grey army bullshit. One of them flew back, hitting a wall and sliding down. Nathan caught a glimpse of Charles. Another grey douchebag went down, this one kicked back into the flames. The last one fell when Nathan reached him and hit hard from behind.

“Nathan!” Charles yelled at him. “What are you doing here?”

“Getting you,” Nathan coughed, reaching out to grab Charles but his jacket lapel. “You’re not fucking leaving again.” A flash of Charles’ face, bruised, bloody and lifeless had Nathan pulling hard on the man’s coat.

“I wasn’t leaving,” Charles pulled away, Nathan did not let go. “I was getting…” but Charles didn’t finish as something somewhere close exploded and black smoke filled the hallway. “We have to leave now!” Charles yelled, his voice firm and commanding. The two of them staggered forward through the blackness.

“Why’s it so dark?” Nathan snapped, covering his burning eyes for a moment. “How can it be so dark with this much fire? I can’t fucking see”

“Smoke,” Charles said. “Come on we need to get out of it.” Nathan felt a firm grip on his t-shirt sleeve and a tug. He followed the gentle pull putting a hand on Charles’ shoulder. Charles abruptly stopped; Nathan walked into his back nearly making them both fall. Something big and loud fell from the ceiling, crashing through the floor.

“Why the hell did you come back here? This is so stupid!” Nathan yelled.

“It’s my job,” Charles said pulling Nathan around the debris.

“Fuck your fucking job,” Nathan snapped, pushing Charles forward.

“Don’t swear,” Nathan heard Charles mutter and an unexpected bubble of hysteria burst out of him. He giggled wildly while the world around him burned and broke apart and Charles dragged him onwards.

They stopped at a door and Charles pushed it, it didn’t budge, he kicked it, again no budge. Nathan shoved him aside and threw all his weight against it. It budged but not enough for them to get out.

“What the fuck!” Nathan yelled.

“Its warped,” Charles yelled back. “Together.” Nathan nodded and together they kicked and hammered at the door as it inched slowly open.

As soon as the opening was wide enough Nathan grabbed Charles and shoved him through, Charles reached back and grabbed Nathan’s arm and pulled him out.

The air felt like ice after the blistering heat inside. Nathan stumbled forward and tripped over Charles who had already gone to his knees.

They were out.

Out of the smoke, Nathan managed to stop coughing long enough to glare at Charles, his eyes streaming and bloodshot.

“You are the dumbest robot ever,” he wheezed. “You’d have died if I hadn’t come in.”

“Nonsense,” Charles wheezed, looking like shit. His face was red and blistered, his hands were bleeding.

“You’d never have gotten that door open by yourself,” Nathan snapped, his throat felt raw, he spat blood and black onto the grass. He clenched a fist, wanting to punch Charles, who had almost fucking died, again! “Why the hell did you go back.” Charles looked at him for a long moment. Nathan could hear people yelling, looking behind Charles he could see people running towards them. Absently he hoped it wasn’t more of those army assholes, every inch of his skin felt raw. He staggered to his feet, stumbling in front of Charles but and instantly fell to his knees again. A hand on his shoulder made him look down.

“It’s ok, they’re ours,” Charles said. Then reached into his pocket and pulled out a USB drive. “This is why I went back,” he coughed.

“Computers?” Nathan grunted, his vision blurring. He blinked rapidly to clear it but it didn’t work.

“Footage from the security cameras,” Charles sounded like shit, but under the beat-up burnt tone, there was smugness.

“You got em on camera,” Nathan smiled, black creeping in at the edges of his vision now.

“Now I can hunt them,” Charles said as Nathan passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, please review, I’d love to hear what you think of the chapter.  
> For information on published works and upcoming projects, release dates, as well as weekly blogs, check out [my website](https://katiemarie21.wordpress.com)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very short chapter today I’m afraid. I’m in the middle of moving house so finding time to write is a challenge and a half.

When Nathan woke up Charles was already back at work. 

The band was deliberately not worrying or caring about him. Skwisgaar and Toki were anxiously not caring by drinking their feelings in the hot tub. Murderface was purposefully not worrying by smashing up several of his antique cars. Pickles didn’t care so much that he was actively drinking himself into a stupor by Nathan’s bed, just so that when Nathan woke up, he could see how unworried Pickles was. 

“Yous awake,” Pickles slurred. 

“Yeah,” Nathan grunted, his head felt full of cotton, his chest ached, and his hands hurt like hell, but other than that he felt surprisingly ok. 

“Good,” Pickles muttered. “Not that I gave a fuck, but it’s good. Getting another singer would have been a pain in the ass.” Nathan gave a noncommittal grunt. 

The following few days passed without incident. The security at Mourdhaus went up significantly, but for the band, everything was as it had always been. For Nathan, the worst he had to deal with was trying to pick up his beer with bandaged hands. Toki ended up giving him a silly straw which worked fine. 

After a week, Nathan lost patience and took the damn bandages off and Charles called a meeting. 

“Glad to see you up and about, Nathan,” Charles said quietly as the band members sat down. He looked purposefully around the room. No one said anything. “You boys are still doing the ‘not caring’ thing I see,” Charles muttered. 

“Caring is for dildos,” Murderface grunted. 

“Why woulds we care, he’s fine,” Skwisgaar said. 

“Caring is what makes bands break up,” Nathan said. 

“I don’t think that’s the case,” Charles said but didn’t push the issue. 

“If you care so much why’d you call the meeting?” Pickles said. “You can’t lecture us about caring then call a meeting.”

“Meetings are a good way to touch base,” Charles started but was interrupted. 

“You’re just going to tell us to get to work,” Toki said. “When Nathan’s still coughing up sludge from when he had to comes rescue yous!” Toki gasped. “You has no hearts!” 

“Toki,” Charles sighed. “This meeting isn’t about work, well your work. It’s about mine.” 

“Robot!” Murderface snapped. 

“I want to talk to you all about what happened, keep you in the loop as it were,” Charles said, unfazed by the barrage of accusations and insults. 

“We’s was attacked again,” Skwisgaar said. “It's pretty normal when you is the best band in the worlds.” 

“Hell yeah,” Pickles lifted his beer in salute. “Attacks and sluts, that’s what we get.” 

“Yes well, while that may be the case this attack was different,” Charles pulled a sheet of paper out of one of his ever-present files and put it to the top of the pile. “We’ve been looking into the identity of the group and they aren’t one we were aware of before now.” 

“So?” Toki said. “Maybe they is new.” 

“That’s what is concerning me,” Charles said. “They were organised and effective, that level of organisation takes time and resources. We are watching various channels to pick up on attacks like that before they happen but this one…this one came out of nowhere.” 

“what about the thing?” Nathan asked. Charles looked at him, an eyebrow raised. 

“thing?” he said softly. 

“Yeah, the thing,” Nathan made a complicated gesture with his burnt hands, trying to convey a small gadget. “The thing you went back for, the thing.” 

“Oh, the flash drive,” Charles nodded. “Yes well, that shows footage of the concert and we can identify how the explosives were set, and why the fire spread as quickly as it did, I’ve even managed to pull u some facial recognition but that will take more time.” 

“So, you’re still hunting them,” Nathan said. 

“Sounds like a boring way to hunt,” Murderface said. “With a computer.” 

“We’ll identify the men who were there on the night, from the remains if nothing else,” Charles said. “Once we’ve recovered enough of the bodies to be useful for identification purposes.” 

“You don’t sound happy about that,” Nathan said. 

“No, this group came out of nowhere, they were organised and secret, I very much doubt I will be able to trace them based on the records of the deceased.” 

“You think they’re smart,” Pickles said. 

“I do pickles,” Charles said. “But try not to worry boys, they won't be as smart as me.” 

“Cause you’re a robot,” Toki said, but his tone indicated a need for reassurance rather than an attempt to insult the manager. 

“Yes, Toki,” Charles said, standing up to indicate the meeting was over. “Metaphorically speaking, I am a robot.” 

“Terminator Charles!” Toki grinned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, please review, I’d love to hear what you think of the chapter.  
> For information on published works and upcoming projects, release dates, as well as weekly blogs, check out [my website](https://katiemarie21.wordpress.com)


	3. Chapter 3

Nathan didn’t spend much time in Operations. The room reminded Nathan of the old Star Trek re-runs Skwisgaar sometimes watched. It was narrow and long, full of computers and constantly buzzing with activity. Charles’ chair was in the centre of the room, a high-backed swivel thing, that allowed Charles to survey the room from any direction. The lighting was always a low red which Nathan approved of. Lighting was important.

Nathan walked in, half expecting the doors to ‘swoosh’ open the way they did on the space shows, but this was Mordhaus, the door was heavy metal and clanged loudly when it closed. Nathan had a sudden flashback to the time on the submarine. None of the Klokateers in the room paid him any mind, all were focused on the task at hand. Only Charles looked up.

“Ah, Nathan,” the CFO nodded to him. “You needed something?” Nathan said nothing but walked over to Charles and peered at the tablet he was holding. The screen was small, Nathan leaned closer. The figures on the screen changed rapidly, a graph in the top right-hand corner changed along with them.

“How can you read this thing?” Nathan snatched up the tablet.

“It’s data from the …” Charles started.

“It’s changing too fast,” Nathan dropped the tablet, Charles picked it up.

“It’s scanning data,” Charles said.

“Oh,” Nathan muttered.

“Did you want something, Nathan?” Charles said purposefully.

“I uh, wanted to know how this…” Nathan gestured around him. “Is uh going.”

“Operations is going well,” Charles said. Nathan stared at him and deliberately loomed. Charles sighed. “You’ll have to be more specific, Nathan. A lot happens in here.”

“Such as?”

“Such as the basic running of the Haus, negotiation on everything the band does, design and implementation of every single one of your concerts and all that entails, data processing and...”

“Finding those guys,” Nathan interrupted, bored already.

“Oh,” Charles said, Nathan caught him glancing at his hands and felt oddly scrutinised. He had to stop himself from putting his hands behind his back. He folded his arms across his chest instead. “I suppose it’s understandable, you were hurt, I can try and make recovery non-fatal so that you can…”

“Your muttering,” Nathan said.

“Thinking out loud,” Charles said. “I’m confident that when we recover those responsible, we should be able to take at least some of them alive, I can arrange for you to have some time with them if you like.”

“Why the hell would I want that?” Nathan snapped.

“You were hurt,” Charles gestured to him. “It’s natural to be angry.”

“Wait you think I want to punch them?”

“I wasn’t thinking punch but effectively yes,” Charles said.

“I don’t give a fuck,” Nathan said.

“Then why are you so interested in…” Charles started but again Nathan interrupted.

“Why is it weird that I want to know about security?” Nathan snapped. “It’s not weird.”

“For most people no,” Charles said. “But you’ve never shown much interest before unless it was an excuse to avoid work.”

“Yeah well,” Nathan shrugged. “It’s important. I’m in charge of the band so I should know about it.” Charles stood up, gestured to a Klokateer who was hovering close by and started walking towards the door. The Klokateer took Charles place in the seat. Nathan followed Charles out of Operations. “You, uh, got a new guy then?”

“Yes, I find I cannot be everywhere at once,” Charles said.

“Suppose not,” Nathan muttered.

“The band's ability to create a very wide fanbase at least allows me to have a pick from competent individuals,” Charles smirked. “Competency is important even if assistants are short-lived,” Nathan said nothing.

They reached Charles’ office and headed inside. Nathan sat in front of the desk, fighting the instinct to tense when he heard a distinctive click as the door automatically locked. Charles came and sat on the other side of the desk and immediately poured a brandy. He handed it to Nathan who sniffed it and put it back on the desk untouched. Charles poured his drink and took a long sip, clearly savouring it.

“What do you want, Nathan?” Charles said after a long silent moment. Nathan felt like the ceiling was pressing down on him.

“I want you to find those guys,” Nathan said.

“OK,” Charles said. Nathan did not like his expression. “But why?”

“The fuck kind of question is that?” Nathan snapped.

“A reasonable one, you are my responsibility, so it is my job to notice things and I have noticed a change in you. Your sudden interest in security is not normal.”

“I don’t give a fuck about security,” Nathan said. Charles nodded.

“So, what are you interested in?” he asked. Nathan frowned and picked up his drink for want of something to do with his hands. The skin was tight and sore as he gripped the glass.

Was he angry about getting hurt? Did he want revenge? Was Charles right about that? No. No, he wasn’t angry, not really. But he did want the guys found. Was he worried? Was he worried about the band? Or the next concert? No. Shit went wrong all the damn time and they were always fine. Charles was organised, he planned for everything, Nathan never needed to worry about that stuff.

So why did he want the guys found?

Nathan knocked back the brandy in one swallow, it burned all the way down. Charles made a disapproving cluck at him but refilled his glass.

“Try to savour it a bit this time,” Charles said. “It’s a nice brandy and deserves that at least.”

“You talk like it’s a person,” Nathan snorted. “It’s not a person.”

“True,” Charles said. “But a great deal of care and pride went into its creation. It was carefully made, and that care deserves appreciation.”

“You’re always careful,” Nathan said, frowning at his glass. The amber liquid glinted pleasantly in the light. “Even when everything was on fire, you hit those guys carefully.” What the hell was he saying? How do you hit someone carefully?

“Precision is key,” Charles said. “As I said to you before, I lack your physical power, but I make up for it in other ways. Precision is one of those ways.”

“Yeah,” Nathan grinned remembering their stupid fight in the gym. He’d been worried about hurting their manager, but he’d not even gotten close to hitting him. Nathan had left that fight feeling oddly happy. He’d gone and bragged to the band about how Charles was a ninja robot and had spent the rest of the day buzzing. The attack had been a bit like that, the entire world on fire around him but Charles was cool and precise.

He’d enjoyed watching Charles hit things.

“I want you to find those guys,” Nathan said again. “I want to watch you find them.” Charles gave him a very knowing smile.

“Ok,” he said simply. He stood up, headed to the bookcase and pulled out a file from a collection. “Since I spoke to you last, we’ve managed to identify three of the men involved in the arson attack. As expected, they led nowhere.”

“So, you don’t know who did this,” Nathan felt a pang of disappointment.

“I didn’t say that” Charles said, a smug expression flitted across his features. He glanced at Nathan schooling his face to be blank. He seemed to take a moment to consider himself and then the smug expression slowly returned. Nathan found himself smiling. Charles’ smug expression changed into a wider smile, with teeth.

“You’re enjoying this,” Nathan said. “You like hunting people.”

“Perhaps,” Charles nodded. “Just a little bit.” He looked away for a second before looking back. “As are you.”

“Perhaps,” Nathan said, mimicking Charles.

“Well, we have managed to locate where the explosives came from, currently we’re running searches regarding the supply and purchase chain, once we reach an endpoint it’ll simply be a matter of following the paper trail back.”

“Back where?” Nathan frowned.

“To the source, to the person in charge. I’m not interested in ferreting out the smaller components. When we cut, we want to remove the head, not a hand.”

“You want to take them out in one hit,” Nathan said, Charles nodded.

“Precision is key,” he said.

“You’re sure there’s going to be a paper trail?” Nathan said. Charles nodded again. “You know when you said hunting, I pictured fewer computers and papers and more guns.”

“Oh, guns will happen,” Charles leaned back in his chair. “But rather than heading out blind, I want to know exactly where we’re shooting.”

“Then once you know you’ll go?” Nathan said.

“Perhaps,” Charles said sipping his drink. “It would be more efficient to send in one of the teams, have them raid. Uh smash and grab I think is the current slang.”

“Yeah,” Nathan felt that same pang of disappointment.

“It would be foolish to go as well, a needless risk,” Charles said, he was watching Nathan carefully, his tone measured and flat.

“But you want to go,” Nathan said.

“Possibly,” Charles said. “Just to observe, after all, this is a delicate operation against an unknown foe who has already proven to be crafty and careful.”

“I should go to,” Nathan said. Charles raised an eyebrow.

“That is a needless risk,” Charles said. “A very needless risk.”

“Not to fight,” Nathan said. “Just to… you know, watch.”

“You want to witness,” Charles said, that knowing smile was coming back. Nathan said nothing for a long moment. He finished his brandy and let Charles pour him another. His stomach was burning pleasantly.

“You don’t seem surprised,” Nathan said quietly. “You knew I wanted you to find them.”

“Well, you said it several times,” Charles said. Nathan snorted loudly. “But yes. You’re not the first person to take enjoyment from watching me hurt people.”

“I don’t,” Nathan stuttered but stopped. He’d never been one to shy away from violence. His temper had gotten the best of him several times in the past and no doubt would again in the future. But he’d never sought violence out, he’d never gotten off on it. Violence was never the goal; it was just something that happened sometimes.

Nathan took a sip from his brandy, deliberately and slowly.

But there was something about watching their skinny, pencil-pushing, robot manager turn into a fucking ninja. He couldn’t put his finger on what it was, or why the feeling even existed. But it was there, and he felt foolish for not recognising it before. He should have known something was up when he kept wanting to hear the story of Charles beating the shit out of that huge guy to save Toki and Skwisgaar. He’d forced them to go into a weird amount of detail, the way Charles had dropped his gun and taken his tie off, the stupid quip he’d had made, how clinically he’d broken the guys arm and kicked him into the river.

Then there was that time Charles had quietly lured two fans into a bloody death pit. Nathan had watched that one from the window, looking down as Charles closed the door and left the two assholes to be gunned down.

“I don’t know why,” Nathan said. “I don’t get it.” Charles shrugged.

“You don’t have to understand every nuance of yourself,” he said. “But you should recognise them. By recognising your impulses, you can control them.”

“You just want me to stop punching suits,” Nathan snorted.

“It would make my job easier,” Charles admitted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, please review, I’d love to hear what you think of the chapter.  
> For information on published works and upcoming projects, release dates, as well as weekly blogs, check out [my website](https://katiemarie21.wordpress.com)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING Nathan and Charles torture a guy. I try to play it more black comedy than brutality, I do not give a blow by blow description of events beyond pushing buttons and pulling down tools but if this is not your jam then I very much advise skipping this chapter. Please take this warning seriously, it's my goal to entertain not traumatise.

“This is boring,” Nathan said.

“What were you expecting?” Charles raised an eyebrow as they watched the klokateers pull body after body after body out of the warehouse.

“For them to be alive,” Nathan said.

“It is a setback,” Charles muttered.

“How?” Nathan snapped. “Looks like they done your job for you.”

“Harsh,” Charles said. “Also mistaken, they have simply made things more complicated.” He took a deep breath when Nathan gave him a scathing look. “First off, they’ve proven that we have an information leak; someone either told them we were coming, or they have the haus bugged. Secondly, this is not all of them.”

“Sure, is a lot of em,” Nathan said as the body removal continued.

“Yes, but I highly doubt that the head is in there,” Charles pinched the bridge of his nose. “This is looking more and more like a cult and mass suicide rarely includes everyone.”

“I thought that was the point of mass…” Nathan started but was interrupted by several klokateers who were dragging a very much alive body out of the warehouse.

“Ahh,” the satisfaction in Charles's voice made the hairs on Nathan’s arms stand up. “That’s better.”

“Found this one trying to get out through the basement,” a nameless klokateer said.

“Perfect, take him home, keep a constant watch on him,” the man’s eyes widened at Charles words. “I want him alive when I talk to him.” As the klockateers started to drag the man away Nathan lunged forward and punched him, the man instantly sagged and was carried onto a helicopter. Charles turned to stare at Nathan.

“Aint gonna do anything, now is he?” Nathan said. Charles continued to stare for a long moment before he cracked a smile and nodded.

“Hard to when you just knocked him unconscious,” he admitted. Nathan rubbed his knuckles, the skin on his hands was healing but was in no way ready for him to start punching people.

“I need a beer,” Nathan said. Beer numbed pain. “Maybe at least ten beers.”

“There’s some in the helicopter,” Charles said.

***

Nathan had never seen one of the ‘inventive information retrieval’ rooms before. It didn’t look like what he expected. He was expecting dark, maybe a wooden chair, cattle prods and shit on the walls. But this room looked … mechanical. There was a big machine in the centre of the room and the guy was fastened into it.

“Not what I was expecting,” Nathan said when Charles raised an eyebrow at him.

“We’ve come along way in information retrieval,” Charles said as if discussing the weather. “One of the advantages we have found with this method is that machines do not tire. Men tire blows become softer, less effective. Machines, well machines are always running at maximum capacity.”

“Ok,” Nathan said. “I can still punch him though?”

“I wouldn’t,” Charles said. “The machine runs high voltage electricity through him, you could get shocked.”

“Oh,” Nathan put his beer down and cracked his knuckles. “It’s not on yet though?” Charles shook his head.

“Dr Rockso spent some time here a while back,” Charles’ voice took on a warm tone.

“Really?” Nathan said.

“A simple beating wasn’t effective, and he is a bad influence on Toki,” Charles shrugged like admitting to torturing a man was an everyday occurrence. Nathan snorted a laugh.

“Fucking hate clowns,” he grumbled.

“He called me an angel,” Charles shivered. “I’d be pleased not to see him here again.”

“Else you’ll put him back in here?” Nathan asked. Charles shook his head.

“No, if he comes back then this was not effective and a more permanent solution will have to be found.”

“You make it sound normal,” Nathan said. Charles frowned, confusion on his face. “It is normal,” Nathan said, then noticed the camera in the corner of the room. “Hey, you filming this?”

“It’s a wise precaution,” Charles said. “It ensures information is not lost.”

“Did you film Rockso?” Nathan said.

“Not intentionally, but the cameras are always on in here,” Charles said.

“Cool,” Nathan grinned. “I just got an idea for a song, that footage will make a great music video.” Charles smiled and shook his head.

“I’ll get it looked out for you,” he said. “But please, censor or cut the last few minutes.”

“Don’t want the world knowing the clown thinks you’re an angel?” Nathan smirked.

“Perish the thought,” Charles said. He turned to look at the klokateer waiting patiently by the controls. “You can start now.” The machine came to life, lightning dancing over the front, the man started to scream.

Nathan sighed, disappointed.

“You’re not going to do it?” Nathan said. Charles blinked at him.

“I have staff,” he said. Nathan sighed. “We pay people to do this for us.” Nathan sighed again. “You’re putting them out of their job.” Nathan sighed and slumped against the wall.   
The man continued to scream. The klokateer turned the machine off.

“I can show you the controls, sire,” she said. Her voice was young, more Sweet Valley High than experienced torturer.

“Cool,” Nathan stepped forward.

“This is what makes the machine active,” small hands pointed to a large green button. “This dial controls the voltage, and this one controls the distance between the subject and the machine.”

Nathan spun the dial-up to the maximum and hit the green button. The man screamed again.

“Stop,” Charles snapped, sharp elbows jabbed Nathan’s stomach as the CFO shoved his way in front of the booth. Nathan stepped back. “You can’t start there,” Charles snapped.

“Why not?” Nathan snapped.

“Because you’ll leave yourself nowhere to go,” Charles said. He turned to face the klokateer. “You can leave us.” Nathan grinned as the woman left.

“Come on then,” he nudged Charles who sighed loudly.

“Very well,” he said turning down the voltage and moving the man further away from the machine. “We’ll start at ten percent.” The machine whirred to life and the screaming started. “Ten percent for ten seconds, how’s that?”

“Boring,” Nathan grinned.

“You realise this isn’t meant to be for fun,” Charles said. “This is a purposeful act.”

“It’s supposed to be brutal,” Nathan said.

“But you don’t start at that level,” Charles said. “You build up to it, anticipation is key.”

“Aren’t you supposed to ask questions?” Nathan said as the machine wound down.

“I’ll not tell you anything,” the man wheezed. Charles grinned.

“See, now we can increase voltage and duration, or just voltage or just duration,” he said.

“Fine,” Nathan said. Watching as the CFO adjusted the dials with precision and turned the machine on again.

“You were expecting perhaps me to take his fingernails off?” Charles said as the screaming continued. Nathan paused for a moment, thinking about that, Charles with pliers, blood on his hands.

“That would be cool,” he said slowly.

“That would be primitive,” Charles sighed.

“I just thought…” Nathan trailed off.

“You were expecting a personal touch,” Charles nodded. “Well, you may get your wish, if his will holds out, we may have to try a different tact.”

***

That different tact came after 30 minutes.

“It’s not working,” Nathan said. “Maybe he’s one of those guys who like electricity?” Charles said nothing. He walked to the wall and pushed a pad Nathan hadn’t seen before. A panel on the wall slid back revealing an array of tools.

“Very well,” Charles said selecting a set of pliers. He looked at Nathan. “But the band will accuse me of favouritism.”

Two hours later Nathan was yelling at the guy.

“You’re going to betray your bosses?” he yelled.

The man nodded. He was bruised and bloody, he had two fingernails left and one of his eyes was burned closed. Charles was taking a break, he’d long since lost his suit jacket, his shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and he was splattered with a liberal coating of blood. Nathan had lost count of the beers he’d polished off and had made a mental note to get the recording of this sent to him. In the last hour, he’d already decided that this afternoon would be the inspiration for the next couple of songs, maybe even an album.

Murder Manager, or perhaps Financial Stabber, he hadn’t decided yet.

His voice horse, Nathan turned away, picked up another two beers out of the cooler the klokateers had dropped off and handed one to Charles who was still sweating.

“First time I’ve seen you sweat,” Nathan grinned.

“My job is not usually as laborious as this,” Charles said taking a swig of the beer and pulling a disgusted face. “As I said, I usually pay people to do this for me,” Nathan smirked and walked to the wall cupboard and pulled down a hammer.

“He’s still got his knees,” he handed it to Charles.

“He’s talking,” Charles said.

“I’ll talk,” the man whimpered. “I already said I’ll talk.”

“He might be lying,” Nathan said.

“You just want to watch me break his knees,” Charles muttered, though he sounds more amused than annoyed. Nathan tried to look hopeful and endearing but failed miserably. How Nathan thought he could look endearing when asking another guy to hurt someone for kicks was beyond Charles. “You have a fetish,” Charles muttered but decided to indulge Nathan, just this once.

***

“Where have you been?” Pickles asked. “What the hell happened to you?”

“Huh?” Nathan slumped back onto the sofa, feeling exhausted but happy.

“You’ve not been hanging out with us for ages,” Toki said.

“You’re covered in…” Pickles sniffed loudly. “You're covered in blood.”

“Did you feed the yard wolves?” Toki asked.

“No,” Nathan smiled. “I was helping Charles get some information out of the guys who attacked us a couple of weeks back.”

“Wait you were helping, Offdensen?” Murderface frowned. “Don’t we pay him to do his job? Why are you doing it?”

“It was…” Nathan started.

“Yeah?” Toki said. “You can’t do Offdensen’s job, we were terrible at it last time.”

“I wasn’t doing his job,” Nathan snapped, accepting the beer Pickles handed him. “I was watching him do his job.”

“You watched him…what interview a guy,” Toki said.

“Looks like a brutal interview,” Pickles said. “He let you watch that?” Nathan grinned and held up a DVD.

“He gave me the DVD,” Nathan said. “Gonna use it in the next music video.”

“A movie! Put it on!” Toki said. Murderface snorted and Skwisgaar echoed Toki’s demand. Nathan paused for a moment. For one single moment he felt tight in his chest, he didn’t want them to see this. Murder-Charles was something for him… but that was ridiculous. Charles was their manager, he worked for the band, it wasn’t personal.

“Alright,” Nathan said, “but there’s no sound so… you just have to imagine.” Standing he put the DVD into the television.

“How long is this movie?” Toki said.

“About three hours,” Nathan said.

Three hours later

“um…” Toki said as the video stopped, and the screen turned black. “That was… it was…scary. He wasn’t even mad.”

“Who?” Skwissgaar said. “Cause with all that screaming the guy looked pretty mad to me.”

“No,” Toki said. “Charles, he wasn’t mad or anything, he looked…”

“Sweaty,” Murderface muttered, apparently unaffected by the gratuitous violence he’d just witnessed.

“No, well yes, but I meant his face, he looked the same way he does when he’s in meetings telling us numbers and beep boop beep stuff.”

“Robot,” Murderface said. “This proves it, robots don’t have feelings.”

“Ninja robot,” Toki muttered. “Ninja robots are scary.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, please review, I’d love to hear what you think of the chapter.  
> For information on published works and upcoming projects, release dates, as well as weekly blogs, check out [my website](https://katiemarie21.wordpress.com)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, please review, I’d love to hear what you think of the chapter.  
> For information on published works and upcoming projects, release dates, as well as weekly blogs, check out [my website](https://katiemarie21.wordpress.com)


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